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The Buffalo Sabres 2021 season has rightly been considered a disaster, with the failed signing of Taylor Hall, the trade for Eric Staal, and the performance under head coach Ralph Krueger that led to the club’s 18-game losing skid and his firing last month. The Sabres initially struggled to regain its footing under interim coach Don Granato, but a shift of philosophy and giving young players more opportunity has provided a reason for optimism and potentially a chance for the longtime assistant and minor league coach to remove the interim tag.
After losing his first six games following the firing of Krueger on March 17, Granato has the Sabres playing over .500 hockey (6-5-3) with Jack Eichel and Kyle Okposo shut down for the season and Hall, Staal and defenseman Brandon Montour dealt before the NHL Trade Deadline.
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Ep 50: Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary, Playoff Races, Deadline Final Thoughtsby Full Press Coverage on March 11, 2023 at 12:40 pm
Jim and Chris discuss the Lightning's struggles, the Calgary Flames, and […]
Granato has had success getting more out of the club’s youngsters who struggled under Krueger’s structured two-way system by accentuating their offensive attributes. Nowhere has that been more apparent than with 2017 and 2018 first-rounders Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin.
Mittelstadt was in and out of the lineup, averaged just over 13 minutes per game, and had only one goal in 13 games before Krueger’s dismissal, but under Granato is averaging nearly 17 minutes and has 11 points (8 goals, 3 assists) in 20 games.
| Scor | Scor | Scor | Scor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Age | Pos | GP | G | A | PTS |
| 1 | Sam Reinhart | 25 | C | 46 | 20 | 13 | 33 |
| 2 | Victor Olofsson | 25 | RW | 48 | 12 | 16 | 28 |
| 3 | Rasmus Dahlin | 20 | D | 48 | 5 | 17 | 22 |
| 4 | Taylor Hall | 29 | LW | 37 | 2 | 17 | 19 |
| 5 | Jack Eichel | 24 | C | 21 | 2 | 16 | 18 |
| 6 | Casey Mittelstadt | 22 | C | 33 | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| 7 | Brandon Montour | 26 | D | 38 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| 8 | Rasmus Ristolainen | 26 | D | 41 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| 9 | Dylan Cozens | 19 | C | 33 | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| 10 | Kyle Okposo | 32 | RW | 35 | 2 | 11 | 13 |
| 11 | Riley Sheahan | 29 | C | 45 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| 12 | Tage Thompson | 23 | C | 30 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 13 | Jeff Skinner | 28 | LW | 45 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Team Total | 48 | 115 | 187 | 302 |
Dahlin’s offensive skill set was what made him the top overall selection in the 2018 NHL Draft, but the 21-year-old appeared confused in playing more conservatively early in the season, which led to his low scoring totals (1 goal in 28 games) and leading the NHL in negative plus/minus (-27). Under Granato, the big Swede’s role has been more well defined and his offensive numbers have improved (4 goals, 7 assists in 20 games).
2019 top pick Dylan Cozens has seen his role expand with the trade of Staal and Eichel’s season-ending injury, and youngsters Tage Thompson, Rasmus Asplund, Henri Jokiharju, and Anders Bjork (acquired in the deal for Hall) are thriving with increased responsibility that they did not get under Krueger.
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Buffalo is doing what teams in last place should do, giving their prospects a look in down the stretch to gauge how far away they are from being able to contribute at the NHL level.
23-year-old Finnish free agent Arttu Ruotsalainen scored at a point-per-game pace with the AHL Rochester Americans and has four goals in nine games since being called up in early April. 2018 second-rounder Mattias Samuelsson signed an entry-level contract after two seasons at Western Michigan and was promoted to the big leagues after playing 19 AHL games.
The most potentially important promotion may be 22-year-old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The Sabres top goaltending prospect won gold at the 2019 World Junior and the OHL’s player of the year in 2019, but missed time due to hip surgery and has struggled in the minors over the last two seasons. Luukkonen made 36 saves in his NHL debut (a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins), but a longer look may be needed before Buffalo can make a determination whether he ready to make the jump next season with goalies Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton unrestricted free agents.
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Ep 50: Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary, Playoff Races, Deadline Final Thoughtsby Full Press Coverage on March 11, 2023 at 12:40 pm
Jim and Chris discuss the Lightning's struggles, the Calgary Flames, and […]
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Ep 49: NHL Trade Deadline Specialby Full Press Coverage on March 4, 2023 at 12:00 am
Jim and Chris break down all the trades on and before deadline day right […]
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Trip Around The NHL - Trade Deadline Reaction, Expansion and Stanley Cup Playoff Talkby Full Press Coverage on March 16, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Jim is back once again joined by Vox Media NHL Analyst Bruce Zeman to […]
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Philadelphia Flyers Make Changes And What is to Comeby Full Press Coverage on March 13, 2023 at 10:00 pm
Jim is joined by Russ Cohen of Full Press Hockey, Philadelphia Hockey Now, […]
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Ep 80: Bruins Acquire Orlov, Hathaway; Pastrnak's Contract, Toronto Tripby Full Press Coverage on February 24, 2023 at 4:50 pm
Ian and Chris react to the Bruins acquisition of Dmitry Orlov and Garnet […]
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Ep 79: Bruins Are A Wagon, Pastrnak Contract, Krejci, Trade Deadlineby Full Press Coverage on January 18, 2023 at 6:35 pm
Ian and Chris evaluate the red-hot Bruins halfway through the season. In […]
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S4Ep22 - Stanley Cup Playoff Wild Card Racesby Jim Biringer on March 13, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Jim is back for a fourth season of the Final Word of Hockey as he looks at […]
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S4Ep21 - NHL Trade Deadline Winners and Losersby Jim Biringer on March 6, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Jim is back for a fourth season of the Final Word of Hockey as he brings […]
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Penguins at Avalanche - Coyotes at Oilersby Broken Controller Media on March 22, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
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Flames at Ducks - Golden Knights at Canucksby Broken Controller Media on March 21, 2023 at 8:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
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Coyotes at Jets - Kraken at Starsby Broken Controller Media on March 21, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
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Lightning at Canadiens - Maple Leafs at Islanders - Red Wings at Bluesby Broken Controller Media on March 21, 2023 at 6:05 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
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Episode #132: The Playoffs Craicby Full Press Coverage on March 17, 2023 at 2:28 pm
On this edition of The Calder Farmstead, it’s a special St. Patrick’s […]
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Episode #131 - The Trade Is One For None: Rapid Fireby Full Press Coverage on March 11, 2023 at 6:33 pm
On this edition of The Calder Farmstead, Sean and Sarah wrap up the AHL […]
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Full Press Kraken - Wednesday, March 22ndby Full Press Coverage on March 22, 2023 at 4:30 pm
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Full Press Wild - Wednesday, March 22ndby Full Press Coverage on March 22, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Today’s episode covered an OT thriller for the Wild, Gus’ big night, […]
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Full Press Blackhawks - Wednesday, March 22ndby Full Press Coverage on March 22, 2023 at 2:30 pm
The Blackhawks have some good news ahead of their matchup against the […]
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Full Press Hurricanes - Wednesday, March 22ndby Full Press Coverage on March 22, 2023 at 2:20 pm
A scoring recap of the Hurricanes & Rangers first of two matchups this […]
